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Restaurants are always trying to find ways to keep things fresh, stay on people’s radar and bring in more diners. It’s a challenge because some guests want nothing to change and if the roast chicken isn’t on the menu, they are upset; another strata gets bored easily and wants continual excitement. Then the staff often wants new challenges, so a restaurant owner is always trying to juggle all these groups.

Some restaurants do annual week- or month-long promotions such as the tomato menu at Lark Creek Inn this summer or the annual whole hog fest at Oliveto in Oakland. There’s also the annual game week at the Big Four, and a twice-yearly mushroom menu at Cav. Perbacco is serving truffle dinners now through Friday, and the week of Dec. 8 Chez Panisse will be celebrating Zinfandel and all the menus will be paired with that varietal.

Increasingly, restaurants are trying to introduce nightly themes; it could be the rotating daily specials at places such as Piperade, where on Monday you can get braised veal sweetbreads with Madeira, or at Beretta, where Monday’s special is meatballs in a spicy tomato sauce.

Other places such as A16 started meatball Monday (at Zare at Fly Trap they’re offered on Sunday), and I’ve already talked about some of the places that are offering fried chicken (SPQR on Tuesday, BarbersQ on Sunday, and Ad Hoc on alternating Mondays and Wednesdays).

At the newly opened Nettie’s Crab Shack, there’s a crab feast every Sunday.

I thought about all this yesterday when I received a note from Bar Bambino owner Christoper Losa, which I updated last week, letting me know that in December the restaurant is introducing “Gnocchi Tuesdays,” which Losa says is a play on a Roman tradition of trattorias offering this specialty on Thursdays.

I’d love to compile a list of these special nights at Bay Area restaurants for future use and publication, so if you know of any, let me know.